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Setup a Virtual Machine with Windows 10 Hyper-V

With the release of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft’s network OS also provided its first virtualization utility called Hyper-V. Microsoft is not new to VM technology as it had previously provided solutions like Virtual PC and Virtual Server. The company has since developed a more homegrown solution and integrated with the Windows platform. With the release of Windows 8 in 2012, Microsoft made Hyper-V available to the Windows client for the first time, eschewing its previous consumer-oriented efforts for a more robust solution. In this article, we take a look at using it.

Create a VM Using Windows 10 Hyper-V

In this article, we take a look at setting up a Virtual Machine using the built-in Hyper-V technology. The benefits include the ability to run multiple operating systems at the same time as long as you have enough hardware resources. Personally, I decided to do this because I need to do some compatibility testing. Hyper-V is also an excellent way to try and test apps before using them on your main production environment. Oh, and it’s a free hypervisor, so that makes leveraging it even better!

Enable Virtualization

Restart the computer and enter BIOS setup (usually by hitting F2, F10 or F12 key) on your keyboard before the computer loads the Windows operating system. This might vary according to the brand, so consult your computer’s manual for instructions how to load the BIOS. On my Computer, I had to hit the F10 key, select my language, select Security > System Configuration and enable the following:

Virtualization Technology (VTx)

Virtualization Technology Directed I/O (VTd)

Search virtualization setting in BIOS and enable the setting.

Save BIOS settings (usually F10).

Power off the computer, wait for a few seconds and start the computer.

Setting Up Hyper-V

Press Windows key+R andtype:optionalfeatures.exe hit Enter.

This will open Turn Windows features on or off. Once it has loaded all the features, check off all the options for Hyper-V and click OK.

Then wait while Windows installs and configures Hyper-V. You will be prompted to restart to confirm changes. Windows will go through a series of restarts and configure your system.

Launch Hyper-V Manager and Create a VM

Next you’ll need to open the hidden quick access menu by hitting Windows key+X and then go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Hyper-V Manager.

In the left pane of the Hyper-V Manager, select your machine name. This will enable the actions pane on the right.

Under the Actions pane click New > Virtual Machine.

This will start the Create New Virtual Machine wizard. Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.

I can give my Virtual Machine a name and specify its location where I want it stored. So if you have additional partitions or a drive you can browse and save it there.

Choose the type of generation would prefer to use. If you are basing your needs around legacy or older applications, go with Generation 1.

Choose how much memory you would like to give the virtual machine. This will be dependent on how much you have available. The more, the better. For my purposes, I will be doing application testing, so this should be enough for the operating system in addition to the applications I will be testing. If you have limited physical RAM installed, 2 GB or less, uncheck Use Dynamic Memory for this virtual machine.

If you see a similar screen shown below, click Next to continue. You can always configure your Network settings after.

Configure your Virtual Hard disk where you will install the operating system. You can make quick changes here such as the location where it will be stored along with the amount space you would like to give the Virtual machine. Here you can see; I have given the virtual machine 5 GBs of disk space. You can also choose an existing Virtual hard disk if you already have one.

Below you can choose the option to designate the install media or its location or select the option to do so later. I will choose to do so later.

Review your options. You can click Previous and make any necessary changes. Once you are satisfied, click Finish.

Installing the Operating System

For this article, I will be installing Windows XP Professional. You have a wide choice of operating systems to choose from, which include other versions of Windows and some Linux distributions.

Select Install media

For this article, I will be using an ISO file image to install Windows from. It’s convenient and easy to do. You can install from a DVD or CD if you wish to do so. In the right pane under your Virtual Machine name, click Settings.

Select the DVD Drive menu in the Hardware tree. Choose whether you will be installing from a DVD drive if your system has one that is available or browse to an available ISO, which is what I will be using.

Click Start or double-click the Virtual Machine itself under the list of VMs to open the instance. This will start the Virtual Machine Manager. Follow the on-screen instructions to install your favorite operating system as you normally would on physical hardware.

When setup is complete, you should have a successful setup that you can use for testing.

Installing an OS on a VM using Windows 10’s built-in Hyper-V is easy as doing it in other VM programs like VirtualBox or VMware. The beautiful thing about this is, you don’t need to install the third-party software first, and as I mentioned earlier, it’s also free. Additionally, being a native app in the OS I believe provides performance enhancements as well as other features not available in the third-party solutions.

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About Andre Da Costa

Based on the Caribbean Island of Jamaica, Andre is a Microsoft MVP since 2010 and a certified computer technician. A Senior Writer for groovyPost, Andre previously was lead review editor at ActiveWin.com and a contributor at Notebooks.com.

31 Responses to Setup a Virtual Machine with Windows 10 Hyper-V

Hello, I followed your tutorial till the DVD configuration; in my left panel I see only SCSI devices and when I try to add one there is no “Physical DVD” option available! I’d like to add my real DVD unit to install my OS windows 10. How to manage to get my DVD drive recognized?

Microsoft does not penalize you as much as they did in the past. You could perform a keyless install of Windows 10 then use it to carry out your labs. Just won’t be able to perform some personalization of the OS.

I am having problems connecting to the network. I have a virtual switch built as external in the Hyper-V Manager, but the Virtual Machine I created does not connect once I set its network adapter to the switch. Additionally, my XP installation in the Virtual Machine has some “?” objects in the device manager. How is the network built in this situation?

I have the same problem, no network even though my host (a Surface Pro 3) is connected and working fine. I tried the network connection settings of the vm but can’t this to work. This is also blocking some other fine-tuning that is internet dependent.

(But besides, thank you for the above steps, they were super helpful!!)

Can you suggest what my issue is, unable to install an operating system into the virtual machine?

Using the hyper-v manager I have been able to create a virtual machine, and selected “install operating system later”. Following your instructions above to install the OS, I selected the DVD drive, then opted to select the relevant iso file from my pc (on a local second hard drive, the iso being for Linux Ubuntu). I then start the vistual machine and get the message in the connection window:

I have given up and deleted all my hyper-v material. Fortunately, I still have one Windows 7 machine where XP mode is free and works great. I also have install Win2000 on same machine. Microsoft has screwed us with Windows 10.

i’m trying to put the hyper-v virtual machine on my new computer using windows 10. i’ve gotten as far as the settings window but i’m unable to add my windows xp virtual machine information in it. this is the program that i used on windows 7 for my virtual machine. HELP! we have 2 programs that can only run in XP.

So I have my XP Pro VM up and running in Windows 10. Created my Virtual Network and Video options but I’m stuck on getting USB to work, mainly being able to redirect USB devices to be used the VM. I don’t even seen an option to redirect USB.

Where do I find a dvd with the program I need for windows xp? I can’t go any further in the setup because I don’t have a dvd. I was able to download the xp program to my old computer. Where do I find the specific part I need to finish the virtual window?

Andre, We have a Win10 i7 PC and via your instructions have installed HyperV and WinXP Virtual Mc. The only problemis that WinXP appears in a tiny window and changing screen resolution increases it slightly but still to only a fraction of full screen. ie still vitually unreadable. Is this a display driver issue. Any ideas? Regards J

I also have the same problem, only windows 32bit appears on dropdown. My laptop: Asus X556U 64Bit Wimdows 10 Home Edition. I just install again the virtual box with administration permission with repair option. Then restart, when I check virtual box dropdown menu, windows 7 64 bit is available. And I was able to install windows 7 64 bit version. I hope it helps 🙂

Is there any special options to having windows hyperV do the virtual managing.I’m setting up a drive in virtual box and my only grump is I neez a way to get it to start on boot since this is hopefully my work around to having a HTPC through windows 10 with windows media center on windows 7.

Also question is if I use something like virtual box and decide to use hyperV is there a virtual file type to use to import?

Hyper-V on Windows 10 will allow you to start a machine when the HOST boots up. Host = Physical machine. Personally, I prefer Hyper-V over Virtual Box but that’s just me. Hyper-V gets it done, performs great and has all the features I need.

To migrate from VirtualBox to Hyper-V isn’t difficult. You just need to import the drives. Fairly straight forward.